Someone made the comment to me the other day that “we live in a plastic world.” Looking out the window today, I’m pretty thankful of that.

It’s been storming a good portion of the night and everything is soaked. A few years ago, I would’ve been wondering how well the wood eaves, soffit and fascia was holding up; but over time, I’ve been slowly converting my house to be as maintenance-free as possible, and one of the best moves was to cut into a piece of the plastic pie and install vinyl over all the wood surfaces outside.

Aside from looking so much better, I never have to fret and fuss about losing a week of my summer vacation just to scrape, sand, prime and paint the house again.

Installing vinyl may not be viewed as a do-it-yourself-friendly task; but, I have to admit, it has gotten easier over the last few years. Most of the big box home improvement stores even carry vinyl siding in stock, along with easy-to-follow instructional books or DVD’s for the first-timers looking to tackle this project.

Of course, having vinyl doesn’t get you completely off the hook. I still have to pressure wash the house to clean off the dirt, mold and mildew typical for the wet climate I live in; but spending an hour cleaning vs. five days painting is a no-brainer for me. I’ll take that trade off any time.

And, for the environmentally conscious, vinyl (just like its other plastic brethren) can be recycled into other post-consumer items. So . . . do I live in a plastic world? Gladly!

You can find out more about the advantages of plastic products, like vinyl siding, on the Plastics Make It Possible website.